In his first foreign visit since assuming the premiership, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi comes to Washington carrying an agenda that appears economic on the surface, but hides one of the most sensitive rounds of negotiations between Baghdad and Washington.

The awaited meeting with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday comes not only amid the escalating US-Iranian confrontation and fears of the repercussions of any potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but also with the Trump administration seeking to redefine Iraq's role in the Middle East by reducing Iranian influence and transforming Baghdad from a battlefield into a major economic and security partner for the United States.

Al-Zaidi's statements before the visit reflect a clear attempt to redefine the nature of the relationship with Washington. Instead of a relationship dominated by counterterrorism and the US military presence, the Iraqi prime minister seeks to move it to a new phase characterized by investment, development, and technology.

Al-Zaidi wrote in an article published by The Washington Post that his goal is 'to move from crisis management to creating opportunities,' stressing that Iraq wants to become an economic partner, not just a security file in US policy.

Prime Minister Mr. Ali Faleh al-Zaidi begins today, Monday, an official visit to the United States of America, heading a high-level official delegation in his first foreign visit since the formation of the government. The visit, which came at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, aims to develop the path of Iraqi relations... pic.twitter.com/2sNKFAszJR

— Media Office of the Prime Minister (@IraqiPMO) July 13, 2026

Al-Zaidi began his meetings with a closed-door session with Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Iraq and Syria, on Monday evening at the Iraqi delegation's residence. The meeting appeared more like a preparatory session to set the agenda for talks with the Trump administration, discussing the issue of monopolizing weapons by the state, ending the presence of armed factions outside government control, reducing Iranian influence, and also the future of the US military presence after the end of the international coalition mission on September 30.

Later, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to hold an honorary reception for the Iraqi prime minister before meeting senior Pentagon officials, after which al-Zaidi will meet members of Congress from both chambers.

On Wednesday, al-Zaidi will meet the President of the World Bank and the head of the International Finance Corporation, then the Iraqi community from Michigan, Texas, and California, as well as representatives of the private sector and scholarship students. Then he will move to Houston, Texas on Thursday, where he will visit Halliburton, Chevron, and ExxonMobil, and also meet the head of the US Chamber of Commerce.

He will hold a roundtable meeting with representatives of energy companies operating in Iraq and companies that wish to work in Iraq.

Al-Zaidi will return to Washington on Friday to participate in the high-level business summit organized by the US Chamber of Commerce, where participants will discuss 'prospects for economic partnership between Iraq and the United States,' along with files on financial, banking, and digital technologies, and opportunities to expand cooperation between the two countries.

Baghdad's Priorities

Al-Zaidi wants to present his government as an economic reform government; this is reflected in the composition of the Iraqi delegation, which includes 27 ministers and high-level officials, including the ministers of oil, electricity, trade, and foreign affairs, the central bank governor, the national security advisor, in addition to businessmen.

The spokesman for the Iraqi government, Haider al-Aboudi, told reporters that the oil file occupies an important part of the discussions, to search for new outlets for Iraqi oil exports, to avoid the damages of any closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Nearly 90 percent of Iraq's oil exports, which amount to 3.4 million barrels per day, pass through the strait.

The prime minister had stated that Iraq seeks to increase its oil production to 7 million barrels per day over the next three years.

Iraqi officials indicated that the main message of the delegation is to convince the American investor that Iraq is looking for long-term partnerships in the fields of energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure. But Washington views this economic agenda from a different angle; it believes that the success of any American investments first requires a stable security environment that encourages American companies to come to Iraq; which brings the file of armed factions back to the forefront of discussions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi receiving US envoy Tom Barrack at his residence in Washington on July 13, 2026 (Government Media)

What Trump Wants

Although the visit's agenda officially focuses on economy and investment, security files will be strongly present on the White House table.

The priorities of the Trump administration consist of three main files: ensuring the Iraqi state's monopoly on weapons, ending the influence of armed factions linked to Iran, preventing the use of Iraqi territory as a platform to target US forces or interests, and building an economic partnership that gives American companies an advanced position in oil, energy, and infrastructure projects.

Washington believes that the success of al-Zaidi's government in implementing its commitments regarding the monopolization of weapons by the state will be the real test of its new relationship with the US administration.

For his part, al-Zaidi tries to convince the US administration that his government has made rapid progress in less than sixty days, both in fighting corruption and in integrating some factions into state institutions, but he knows that Washington will measure his success by his ability to deal with the factions most linked to Tehran, and he asks Washington to provide intelligence, technical, and military support to his government.

The positions of these factions have complicated the task days before the visit, as the group calling itself the 'Islamic Resistance in Iraq' announced its refusal to surrender weapons, and set a series of political conditions, warning against replacing military occupation with economic occupation through American companies.

The leader of 'Kata'ib Hezbollah,' Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, also escalated his rhetoric, calling on the government to what he called 'compliance with the will of the resistance,' and affirming the faction's continued connection to the Iranian axis.

Washington realizes that these positions target not only the Iraqi government, but also constitute a direct message to the Trump administration that reducing Iranian influence inside Iraq will not be an easy task.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at Najaf Airport in Iraq before the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (Reuters)

Between Washington and Tehran

Al-Zaidi finds himself facing a complex equation; he wants to build a strategic relationship with the United States, but at the same time he cannot enter into a direct confrontation with Iran, which still possesses extensive political and security influence inside Iraq. For this reason, he has stressed on more than one occasion that Iraq 'will not join any axis,' and that Baghdad seeks to play a mediator role between Washington and Tehran, not to be part of the conflict between them.